How To Turn What You Already Know About Your Work, Hobby, Or

242 Pages·2002·0.96 MB·English

“Info Millions”
How To Turn What You Already Know
About Your Work, Hobby, Or Personal
Interests Into…
A Million Dollar
Information Products Empire!
By Bob Serling
“Info Millions”
Copyright Notices
Copyright © 2002 by The Internet Marketing Center
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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publisher. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to The
Internet Marketing Center, 1123 Fir Avenue, Blaine, WA 98230.
Published by The Internet Marketing Center
1123 Fir Avenue
Blaine, WA 98230
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Legal Notices
While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication,
neither the author nor the Publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, or
contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.
This publication is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. The
Publisher wants to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to varying
state and/or local laws or regulations. All users are advised to retain competent counsel
to determine what state and/or local laws or regulations may apply to the user's particular
business.
The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these
materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal,
state, and local, governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising, and all
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responsibility of the purchaser or reader. The author and Publisher assume no
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Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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“Info Millions”
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome 1
Why I created this program 1
What you'll get from the Info Millions program 2
Important Fundamentals 3
Fundamental #1: You must have a quality product 3
Fundamental #2: Marketing drives any successful business 4
Fundamental #3: You can increase your sales exponentially by using
simple marketing systems 7
Fundamental #4: The real profits in any business, especially in an
information products business, are in the back end 10
Fundamental #5: To be as successful as possible, you must adjust to
the demands of the marketplace 11
Establishing relationships is the key to locking in more sales 12
How you reach your goal is often more important than the goal you want
to achieve 13
Module 1: How To Build A Solid Foundation For Your
High-Profit Information Products Business
First things first 14
Power Component #1: Your Strategic Focus 15
How to create your Strategic Focus Statement – why your business must
always come first! 16
1. Product/service driven business 17
2. Customer driven business 17
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“Info Millions”
Module 1 (continued):
3. Market type driven business 17
4. Production type driven business 17
5. Marketing method driven business 17
6. Distribution method driven business 18
My own personal Strategic Focus 18
The advantages you gain from having a strong Strategic Focus 20
Reviewing and modifying your Strategic Focus 20
Power Component #2: Your Ideal Customer Profile 21
Power Component #3: Your Essential Selling Advantage 23
Power Component #4: The Ideal Product Formula 25
Why Information Products are the ideal type of product 25
What to do next 26
Module 2: Create Your Own Highly Profitable
Information Products
Key Secret #1: Create your information product in half the time by doing
the proper research 27
Gathering information 28
Interviewing industry experts 29
Organizing the information you've gathered 30
Key Secret #2: Your information product outline – the key to
making the writing process as simple as possible 30
Key Secret #3: Writing style and techniques 31
1. Write conversationally 31
2. Above all else, go for clarity 31
3. Worry about how it works, not how it sounds 32
4. Sentence and paragraph length 32
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“Info Millions”
Module 2 (continued):
5. Editing and Rewriting 32
6. The 50-Minute Hour 33
Key Secret #4: Writing your information product using the
Modular Format 33
Module 1 – Introduction 34
Module 2 – State the problem your customer faces 34
Module 3 – Promise your reader the solution they need 35
Module 4 – Solution modules 35
Module 5 – Summary 35
Module 6 – Remind your readers of your ability to help them 36
How to use the Modular Format 36
A real life example of the Modular Format 36
How to select topics for your information products that guarantee
maximum sales and profits 38
Factor 1 – How large is your market? 38
Factor 2 – Do your prospects and customers want your product? 39
Factor 3 – Are customers willing to pay a fair price for your product? 44
Factor 4 – What is your competition like? 45
Competitor research – what you can learn from your competition to
make your business more successful 46
Example 2-1 The actual outline for the first three modules of this course 47
Example 2-2 A report using the Modular Format 50
Module 3: The Inside Secrets Of Successfully Marketing
Information Products
Section 1: Bottom-To-Top Marketing 66
Sell first, then produce the product 67
Alternatives to dry testing 68
The ideal dry test product 68
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“Info Millions”
Module 3 (continued):
Section 2: Four crucial marketing principles 69
Principle #1: MITBE. The money is in the back end 70
Principle #2: C=MP. Credibility equals Maximum Profits 71
Principle #3: SYGH. Set your goals high 71
Principle #4: Test small, test prudently, test constantly 73
Section 3: A brief preview of the remainder of this module 75
Section 4: Structuring your offer for maximum profits 75
An example of a blockbuster offer 77
Component #1 – Immense promise 78
Component #2 – Complete believability 78
Sweetening the pot 79
The single greatest money making secret for a changing market,
changing times, and a changing economy 79
A bit of history – how I accidentally started my information products empire 81
My next step – from success to near financial disaster 82
Building the formula 83
Serling's Direct Marketing Power Formula 83
Powerful Offer 83
Impeccable Credibility 84
Scarcity – the key motivation to act before it's too late 86
Refining the process – a complete model for the ideal direct marketing piece 88
1. Powerful Offer 88
2. Problem/Pain 89
3. Solution 89
4. Impeccable Credibility 90
5. Details 90
6. Benefits List 90
7. Limited Offer 90
8. More benefits 91
9. Price 91
10. Guarantee 91
11. Scarcity 93
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“Info Millions”
Module 3 (continued):
12. Benefits Summary 93
13. Close (sell, sell, sell) 93
14. P.S. (if your piece is a sales letter) 94
15. A final piece of advice about this formula 95
Case Studies – Actual results from three of my marketing campaigns 95
Case Study 1: Offering The New Rules seminar to my house list 96
Case Study 2: My Dealer Rights Package to my house list 96
Case Study 3: My Dealer Package to a cold mailing list 97
Putting this formula into action 98
Section 5: Profit wave marketing 98
PWM Rule #1 – Selling information like you’d sell toothpaste 98
PWM Rule #2 – Building a foundation for more sales 99
Building maximum recognition and credibility with your existing
customers 99
Joint venture marketing – how to use other businesses' credibility to
substantially increase your sales and your customer base 100
How to get the most out of joint venture deals 101
How to approach joint venture partners 102
How to maximize your joint venture efforts 103
Testing – the crucial ingredient for building your maximum profit
information products empire 104
Kicking your marketing into high gear 105
Section 6: Maximizing your profits through Precision
Marketing Systems 105
Precision Marketing Systems – The System Foundation 106
1. Generate leads 107
2. Qualify those leads 107
Do they want your product? 107
How soon do they need your product? 108
Can they afford your product? 109
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“Info Millions”
Module 3 (continued):
Do they have the authority to buy your product? 109
3. Sell to the qualified leads 110
4. Get testimonials from satisfied customers 110
5. Resell your customers 111
6. Get testimonials for products sold on the back end 112
7. Upgrade to higher ticket products if applicable 112
8. Cross sell other companies' products to your customers 113
9. Exploit the leads that didn't convert to sales 113
How to get the most benefit from The System Foundation 115
6 Precision Marketing Systems 116
Precision Marketing System 1 – Classified ads/Small space ads 116
Precision Marketing System 2 – Endorsed Offers 117
Precision Marketing System 3 – Free Expertise 118
Precision Marketing System 4 – Card Decks 119
Precision Marketing System 5 – Direct Mail 120
Precision Marketing System 6 – Oversized Postcards 121
A few last words about Precision Marketing Systems 121
Section 7: Opportunity Cycle Selling 122
Missed opportunities 122
The challenge 122
The solution – Opportunity Cycle Selling 123
The 4 C's Of Opportunity Cycle Selling 124
1. CLASSIFY your prospects – not all prospects are equal 124
2. CONTACT all your customers and prospects 124
3. CONSISTENTLY contact all your prospects and customers 125
4. CREDIBILITY advances sales 125
Phone contact tips 126
Removing prospects from your contact cycle 126
Make sure your prospects buy from you – not your competition 127
The results of using OCS can be extraordinary 127
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“Info Millions”
Module 3 (continued):
Section 8: How to pack maximum selling power into your
advertising copy 128
Insider's Copy Secret #1 – Research, Research, Research! 128
The secrets of conducting profit-making research 128
1. Create a short, accurate customer profile 129
2. What is the goal of your copy? 129
3. What is the major goal you're trying to achieve? 129
4. What other goals would you like to achieve with this project? 129
5. Adding credibility 130
6. What product or service will you be selling? 130
7. What are all the features of your product? 130
8. What relevant facts and figures have been gathered? 130
9. What are the major benefits? 130
10. You vs. your competition – benefits of dealing with you 131
11. What is your customer's main concern? 131
12. What type of guarantee do you offer? 131
13. What level of service and support do you offer? 131
14. What is the average dollar amount of a typical purchase? 131
15. Any other pertinent needs? 131
How to conduct research that will get the crucial information
you need 132
1. Your company's experience 132
2. Expert opinions from within your industry 132
3. Your customers' experience 132
Important items to gather in order to get all the information you'll need
to make your copy as profitable as possible 132
Serling's Unbeatable Copywriting Formula 133
Insider's Copy Secret #2 – Improving Your Offer! 133
Elements for building powerful offers 134
Example: Home Equity line of credit 135
Offer elements used in this example 135
How this offer was developed 135
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“Info Millions”
Module 3 (continued):
Insider's Copy Secret #3 – Credibility 136
Serling's Rule Of Prior Conditioning 136
Insider's Copy Secret #4 – Shifting The Risk 138
Section 9: Expand your information empire by organizing
your own circle of experts 139
Expert advisers 139
Expert customers 140
Requirements of a good circle member 140
Why most business owners don't have a circle of experts 141
How to operate your circle of experts 141
Section 10: Mailing Lists – Truth vs. Industry Hype 142
The single most damaging myth everyone still believes about direct mail 142
Why Renting Mailing Lists Is Usually A Financial Disaster – And How
To Determine Which Lists Are True Assets In Your Marketing Efforts 142
Dirty tricks that list brokers might play 143
1. Lying about the source of the list 143
2. Lying about the value of the list 143
3. Lying about the recency of the list 143
4. Lying about hotline counts 144
5. Giving you the cream of the list 144
6. Passing off inactives and prospects as actual buyers 145
7. Keeping the hottest customers off the list 145
Serling's Rule Of Dealing With List Brokers 145
The only sure way to know you've found a list with strong potential 146
More profit making list usage tips 147
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